1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to baseboard management controllers (BMC) and more particularly relates to a reconfigurable, networked BMC.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many computing systems, baseboard management controllers (BMCs) are used to provide management functions. The BMC is often the primary part of an intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) architecture and manages the interface between systems management software and platform hardware. BMCs often include sensors to report on operating parameters such as temperature, fan speed, operating system status and the like.
In larger systems, one or more BMCs may communicate with a BMC management utility which allows a user to interface with the BMC and perform limited operations with it. The BMC may also provide error reporting to a user and additional functions such as interrupt handling.
However, the BMCs are typically limited in the functionality that they provide to a user or to the system into which they are incorporated. In addition, the BMCs are often tied down to the hardware that they are designed to manage; as such,
problems with the hardware itself may reflect to the BMC as well. This may be especially true if the BMC uses components of the hosting hardware (such as a CPU, or memory) to provide functionality.